TY - BOOK AU - Sutton-Smith,Brian TI - The ambiguity of play SN - 0674017331 AV - BF717. S93 1997 U1 - 155 21 PY - 1997/// CY - Cambridge, Mass. PB - Harvard University Press KW - Play KW - Psychological aspects N1 - Includes bibliographical references (pages 233-271) and index; 1. Play and Ambiguity -- 2. Rhetorics of Animal Progress -- 3. Rhetorics of Child Play -- 4. Rhetorics of Fate -- 5. Rhetorics of Power -- 6. Rhetorics of Identity -- 7. Child Power and Identity -- 8. Rhetorics of the Imaginary -- 9. Child Phantasmagoria -- 10. Rhetorics of Self -- 11. Rhetorics of Frivolity -- 12. Conclusion N2 - Sutton-Smith focuses on play theories rooted in seven distinct "rhetorics" - the ancient discourses of fate, power, communal identity, and frivolity and the modern discourses of progress, the imaginary, and the self. In a sweeping analysis that moves from the question of play in child development to the implications of play for the Western work ethic, he explores the values, historical sources, and interests that have dictated the terms and forms of play put forth in each discourse's "objective" theory ER -